The Madness in the Method Targeted Spay Neuter · The Madness in the Method. Targeted Spay Neuter....
Transcript of The Madness in the Method Targeted Spay Neuter · The Madness in the Method. Targeted Spay Neuter....
The Madness in the MethodTargeted Spay Neuter
presented by Aaron Asmus, Cat Adoption TeamSharon Harmon, Oregon Humane Society
Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland
• Founded 2008 as coalition. But…Portland’s different…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVmq9dq6Nsg
Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland
• Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs• Cat Adoption Team• Clackamas County Dog Control • Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon• Humane Society for Southwest Washington• Multnomah County Animal Services• Oregon Humane Society• Washington County Animal Services• Portland VMA• Oregon VMA• SW Washington VMA
ASAP coalition area
• 3727 square miles• 4 counties• Larger than Delaware
and Rhode Island• 2 million people• 182K people below
poverty line• 996K cats and dogs, plus
101K ferals
How it works
• ASAP• Monthly meetings• Less formal governing structure• Oregon Humane Society is fiscal agent• Several committees, many members
contribute in a variety of ways
The topic is cats…but where to begin?
• Data analysis; the first big lift–
5 different software systems
• Initial goal focused on intake resulting in euthanasia
We have a plan, now what?
• 2007 CATNIP Trial Run
–
Looked to our records and determined the zip codes with the highest intake resulting in euthanasia, 97206 and 97266
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Pilot project with a mobile clinic
We learned a lot…
• Much needed in the way of process improvement
• 770 cats• Communication challenges• Each spay cost $149 –
our cost!!
• Results were promising though• 23% reduction in euthanasia
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Accountability to the Accountants
• Setting the numerical goals –
Surgical target number
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Project budget–
Baseline SN
–
Determining the human demographic
Setting numerical goals
• Big kudo’s
to Joyce Briggs!
• Steal the wheel, don’t reinvent it!–
Many thanks to Peter Marsh and the work of shelters in NH, UT, FL
• Establishing the feline population
• New information helped identify owners of cats likely to contribute to cat overpopulation–
JAVMA 4/09
How did we come up with the number?
Marsh’s data indicate that shelter admissions can be reduced by 25-30% when a community:
• SN five more pets / 1,000 people, targets indigent owners for 5 years• Increase feral cat sterilization by 1.25 cats per 1000 people.
Using Marsh’s formula:• Given 3/4 euthanasia are cats, we based our target on increasing
feline spay/neuter by 3.75 per 1000 people (7,500 surgeries for the 2 million people in greater Portland metro) targeting indigent owners, plus 1.25 per thousand additional feral cat surgeries (2,500 surgeries). Bonus program, ASAP will subsidize 3,000 surgeries annually for low-income Portlanders who are not on public assistance.
• 13,500 additional spay and neuter surgeries above baseline
Pet Population for Dummies
Number of Households: Divide the population by 2.5http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/
Dogs: Number of dog-owning households = .372 x total number of households
Cats: Number of cat-owning households = .324 x total number of households
To calculate the number of animals in your community
Dogs: Number of dogs = 0.632 x total number of households in your communityNumber of dogs = 1.7 x number of dog-owning householdsCats: Number of cats = 0.713 x total number of households in your communityNumber of cats = 2.2 x number of cat-owning households
Or just use the handy calculator http://www.avma.org/reference/marketstats/ownership_calculator.asp
Selling the plan
• Veterinarians• Boards• Staff• Volunteers• Donors
From the Frying Pan to the Fire
• ASILOMAR!!!!
But really, that was a good thing
• We can play well in the litter box…• Increased reliance on each other• ASAP as a priority• Internal modernization• Playing to strengths
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With the Who and the Where out of the way… now comes the How
• Targeting begins–
Allied service providers
–
Social services–
Food banks, homeless projects
–
Craigslist–
Flyers
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Facebook–
Agency Websites
–
Cat Advocates
What’s in it for them?
• Low hanging fruit• Convenience• What’s it gonna
take?
Dateline March 2010
• Soft launch• Uncovered infrastructure gaps• Aligning expectations with reality and other
step on a rake moments
More learning occurred..
• Process refinement • Centralized scheduling module• More staff/volunteer support
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Inspect what you expect
• Did we achieve our goals?• How will we know?
Hi-tech is cool but is it necessary?
• If the intent is to reduce shelter intake, then focus on the people who bring you the cats–
Your model may need anintervention by the dataGuru’s at the ASPCA
Or you can try a direct approach, as in direct mail–
For OHS, only 3% of Spayand Save clients hadsurrendered cats
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Drum roll please
For all the effort, what are the first year results?
• 5479 surgeries above baseline volume• Scheduling software in full use• Volunteer force substantial• Regular transfers
Off the ground and purring
• 2006-2010 accomplishments• Cat intake down 8%• Euthanasia down 39%• Adoptions up 8%• Transfers up 24%• Per capita
euthanasia ratedrops to 4.1
Results since ASAP inception
Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland Community Statistics - Asilomar
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
20,000
22,000
24,000
26,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
ADJUSTED TOTAL INTAKE
ADOPTIONS (only by thepublic)
TOTAL TRANSFERS
ADJUSTED TOTALEUTHANASIA
Events
• 2010Elect to Spay
• 2011 A Spay Odyssey
• Next Event Spay it Forward, focusing on kittens
Resources
• US Census• ASPCA Data Junkies
Dr. Emily Weiss 316 778-1273 [email protected]
• For all you need to know about targeted S/N www.petsmartcharities.org/resources
• For ASAP Spay and Save detailsAnika Moje [email protected]
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical AssociationApril 15, 2009,
Population characteristics and neuter status of cats living in households in the United StatesKaryen
Chu, PhD; Wendy M. Anderson, JD; Micha
Y. Rieser, MA Results estimated population of 82.4 million cats living in 36.8 million US households.
(80.0%) cats were reportedly neutered. Of the neutered female cats 81.7% had reportedly been neutered before having any litters. Proportion of cats that were neutered differed significantly across annual family income groups, with 96.2% of cats ≥
$75,000 being neutered, 90.7% between $35,000 and $74,999 being neutered, and only 51.4% <
$35,000 being neutered.Conclusions and Clinical Relevance— (80.0%) of cats living in households in the United States were
neutered and that annual family income was the strongest predictor of whether cats in the household were neutered. The present study did not attempt to address stray and feral cats, which represent a
substantial but unknown percentage of the total US cat population.
Questions?